 | |
| Founded | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Team principal(s) | Arthur Forster Martin Depper |
| Current series | MINI Challenge |
| Former series | MINI Challenge British Touring Car Championship |
| Drivers' Championships | 2005 MINI Challenge (Forster) 2008 MINI Challenge (Depper) |
Forster Motorsport are a racing team, based in Wallsend, United Kingdom. They are primarily known for racing Minis in the UK MINI Challenge, and being successful in their endeavours. They also competed in the 2010 BTCC season in a pair of BMW 320si racing cars.
The team was formed in 2002 to allow Arthur Forster to race in the UK MINI Challenge. His previous experience racing Ford Fiestas in the 1994 Ford Fiesta Challenge stood him in good stead and he was instantly challenging for race wins, and indeed took a few top place finishes in his maiden season. In 2004, Arthur finished the season on level points, but missed out on the title on countback. He rectified this by becoming the Challenge Champion in 2005.
Also during the 2005 season Martin Depper joined the team, initially competing in the Cooper Class, and moving up to the Club Class the following season (in which he finished third in class).
After a tough 2007 season, in which Arthur had moved to take a team manager role, Martin emulated Arthur's success during 2008 and took the Challenge Championship. Arthur's return to the race seat in the 2008 season was not as successful with some expensive repair bills and broken bones being his reward. However, with both having tasted success in the MINI Challenge, the team began to look at other race series, and Martin, being a (in his own words) "let's take a big step" person, [1] made the suggestion of the BTCC. Knowing that such a big leap would require time to prepare for, the team continued competing in the MINI challenge for their 8th consecutive season whilst preparing for the BTCC in the background.
In October 2009 Forster Motorsport announced their intentions to join the next season of the British Touring Car Championship, a statement they reiterated on their own website in January 2010. [2]
The team entered two BMW 320si race cars, the cars having previously been campaigned by Mat Jackson. Martin raced in car number 30, whilst Arthur took car number 37. Both had been upgraded to that season's specification for the BMW touring cars. The cars debuted at the BTCC's 2010 Media Day at Brands Hatch, [3] however only one car was able to compete at their first round of the 2010 season at Rockingham Circuit. The team had decided that their pre-season preparations had only been "satisfactory" and so postponed their start to the season until Round 2 at Rockingham to allow further time for testing and preparation. However, despite both cars being ready, only Arthur was able to compete as Martin became stranded in the US due to the travel disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. Arthur had a successful weekend at Rockingham, finishing all three races.
However, as the season progressed the team quickly became back markers during the races. Neither driver scored any championship points, and as a result the team also finished on 0 points, one of three teams to finish in such a position (the other two being Central Racing Group and AmD Milltek Racing.com).
Martin's record for the series was nine rounds not attended (Thruxton, Rockingham, and Knockhill), three Did Not Starts (all at Donnington), six retirements, a 12th place, a 13th place, four 14th places, three 15th places, a 16th place, and a 20th place.
Arthur's record for the series was two rounds not attended (Thruxton and Knockhill), four retirements, one Not Classified, two 13th places, two 14th places, three 15th places, four 16th places, four 17th places, one 18th place, one 19th place, and two 20th places.
After a disappointing season in the BTCC, and having made comments that they would be competing in the 2011 BTCC season, Forster reappeared in the MINI Challenge.
Both drivers are competing in the JCW Class, Martin in car number 30 and Arthur in car number 3. By the end of round 9 of the series the team had suffered a number of Did Not Start (DNS) and Did Not Finish (DNF) results for both drivers. This meant that approaching the half way mark in the season Martin was sat in 11th position on 60 points and Arthur in 20th position with 33 points. However, neither driver had appeared at rounds 8 or 9. [4]
Robert Christopher Austin is a British racing driver who formerly competed in the British Touring Car Championship. He was born in Evesham, Worcestershire.
Colin Henry Turkington is a British racing driver from Northern Ireland who competes in the British Touring Car Championship for Team BMW. He is a 4 time BTCC champion, winning the title in 2009, 2014, 2018 and 2019, having made his debut in the series in 2002.
Gordon William Shedden is a British auto racing driver. He last competed in the British Touring Car Championship for the Halfords Racing with Cataclean team. He has previously won the series on three occasions; in 2012, 2015 and 2016, driving for Honda/Team Dynamics each time. He also spent two seasons in the FIA WTCR, from 2018 to 2019, driving for the Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team.
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the TOCA Tour or TOCA Package. The BTCC is the UK's biggest motor racing championship and the headline act to a host of support races covering the entire weekend.
Mathew Jackson is a former British racing driver.
Stephen David Jelley is a British racing driver currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with Team Parker Racing.
Jonathan Robert "Jonny" Adam is a British racing driver and a factory driver for Aston Martin Racing. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons – winning in 2007 and in 2008. He also won the 2005 Elf Renault Clio Cup. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship in 2009 and currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, British GT Championship, winning the 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 championships. He also won the LMGTE Pro class at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Motorbase Performance is a British motor racing team, founded in 2004 by former Production Saloon racer David Bartrum. They are best known for competing in the British Touring Car Championship.
The 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 53rd British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It began at Thruxton Circuit on 4 April and finished after 30 races over ten events at Brands Hatch on 10 October.
The 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was the 54th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Eurotech Racing was a British motor racing team based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, founded by Mike Jordan and currently owned by Jeff Smith since December 2014, that last competed in the 2018 British Touring Car Championship
Martin Lee Depper is a British racing driver and businessman. He previously competed in the British Touring Car Championship.
Arthur Forster is a British racing driver. He is currently competing in the UK MINI Challenge with his own Forster Motorsport team, and competed in the 2010 British Touring Car Championship for them.
David Robert Newsham is a British racing driver and businessman. He is the managing director of Norscott Vending. He raced in the British Touring Car Championship from 2011 to 2017, but in 2016, he competed in the British Rallycross Championship, only entering two rounds of the BTCC in place of Kelvin Fletcher.
Anthony Allen Gilham is a British racing driver. He is the founder and owner of Team HARD. Racing, who currently compete in various championships including the British Touring Car Championship.
The 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 55th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Robb Holland is an American racing driver who has competed in several international racing series. Most notably the British Touring Car Championship where in 2014, Holland became the first American driver in history to compete full-time in the series driving Rotek Racing's Audi S3. Holland is also the first American ever to compete in the World Touring Car Championship when he drove for Bamboo Engineering in the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of the United States at Sonoma Raceway, California.
Tony Gilham Racing , competing as Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD., Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils. and Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown. currently, is a British motor racing team based in Dartford, Kent and founded by Tony Gilham. The team raced under the Team HARD. banner in the British Touring Car Championship until the end of 2013. They now compete in the British Touring Car Championship, Volkswagen Racing Cup, Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Mini Challenge UK and the GT Cup series.
Andrew Robert Watson is a British racing driver from Northern Ireland currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK.
The 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2015 season was the 58th British Touring Car Championship season and the fifth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification.
